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April 8, 2009
Lessons on activism for the preservation movement, and reflections on the AY example
Atlantic Yards Report
At the 15th annual Historic Districts Council (HDC) conference, Communities and Cornices: Preservation in a Political World, held March 7, Dick Dadey, executive director of the Citizens Union (CU), offered some general observations on effective advocacy.
The lesson apply not only for historic preservationists, but also, to my mind, offer context regarding the Atlantic Yards battle.
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What is good government, Dadey asked rhetorically. He listed multiple factors: transparency, accountability, responsiveness to the people, effectiveness, acting in the public interest.“Good government cannot function unless the citizens are paying attention,” he said. Thus the importance of advocacy. (And, I’d argue, journalism.)
Dadey listed what he called “the five P’s of effective advocacy.”
Principle: you need to have a set of principles that guide your work. HDC and other preservation groups, he said, have a very strong set of principles.
Purpose: a principled organization or effort needs to know what it’s asking for.
(In the Atlantic Yards context, it’s a very big ask, in fact, impossible. Hence lawsuits.)
Pragmatic: it’s not just about being passionate, and knowing your cause, but being wise in how you speak about it.
(Atlantic Yards diehard opponents at times have made common cause with “mend-it-don’t-end-it critics like BrooklynSpeaks.)
Political: “which is not a phrase a lot of like to use,” when fighting for these principles… but being political, knowing what tactics to use and how to use them successfully.
(AY opponents have been unsucessful in getting project opponents like Assembly candidate Bill Batson and Congressional candidate Chris Owens elected, but longstanding opponent State Senator Velmanette Montgomery was reelected easily. Now City Council Member Letitia James, the leading opponent, faces a challenge.)
People: “How do the issues we care about affect the daily lives of people who live there?
(AY opponents certainly have recruited people in the immediate area of the project, but have not drawn large numbers from beyond.)
Posted by lumi at April 8, 2009 5:42 AM